How God's Service Was to Be Kept in Canaan

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 12:1) “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of your fathers gives you to possess it, all the days that you live on the earth."

Up to this point Moses had been exhorting the children of Israel to obey the commandments of the Lord.  Now he began a review of all the statutes and judgments of the Lord that they were to obey in their promised land all the days of their lives.

(2) “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall possess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree."

The very first thing the Israelites were to do when they went into their promised land was to destroy all the places where the nations before them had worshiped their false gods.  The pagans most often erected their pillars and statues on high places, and worshiped there, being nearer to the heavens; and many consecrated various trees to their pagan gods and worshiped under them.

(3) “And you shall overthrow their altars, break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and you shall cut down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place."

They were to destroy their altars, break their pillars and statues, burn their groves of trees that had been planted for worship, and cut down any carved or engraved images of their gods, completely destroying all memorials of the idols, which probably included changing the names of places, as well.  Matthew Henry wrote something I found very interesting, in his Commentary on the Whole Bible, "Here is no mention of idol-temples, which countenances the opinion some have, that the tabernacle Moses reared in the wilderness was the first habitation that ever was made for religious uses, and that from it temples took their rise."  My limited research was not able to prove or disprove that fact, but evidently, there were scholars who believed that during Henry's lifetime (1662-1714).

(4) "You shall not do so to the LORD your God."

By that, Moses meant they were not to use any of those vulgar objects in their worship of their Lord.  He was not to be worshiped with superstitions on every hill and under every tree as every other false god, but He Himself would design a sanctuary and the ritual of His own service.  Their Lord was above all gods, as is stated many times in scripture.

(5) “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His habitation; and there you shall come."

The Lord Himself would choose the place for his tabernacle where His presence would be among their tribes, and that is where the people would come to worship Him and seek Him by prayer and inquire of Him.

(6) "And there you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks."

That place the Lord would choose and designate was where the people would bring all their offerings and sacrifices and tithes.  There, in God's tabernacle, not on any hill or under any tree, signifying that their offerings and sacrifices were not accepted for their own worth, but by God's gracious appointment in His house. 

(7) “And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you."

There in the place that would be designated by the Lord would the people eat their part of the offerings as instructed by Him, and there they would rejoice in all the labors of their hands that brought in the offerings of all of which the Lord had blessed them.  They and their households would cheerfully and thankfully partake of the offerings.

(8) "You shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."

Moses told the people that the time would come when they did not do the things they did there in the wilderness, where they were constantly moving from place to place, and the people brought offerings sometimes when and where they pleased.  John Wesley pointed out, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, that there wasn't a "universal liberty" given to the people to do as they pleased, but their migratory life and unsettled conditions often gave them opportunity to do so.  Moses said that would change.

(9) "For you are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which the LORD your God gives you."

The people were allowed to do those things irregularly because they had not yet come to their promised land the Lord was giving them, their rest and their inheritance.  It is interesting to note the word "rest" here.  Their promised land of Canaan was symbolic of the eternal rest that is assured for the people of God in heaven, and of Christ in whom we have spiritual rest.

(10) “But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, (11) Then there shall be a place which the LORD your God shall choose to cause His name to dwell there; there you shall bring all that I command you, your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD."

However, Moses continued, when the children of Israel had crossed over the Jordan River, dwelt in their promised land, and they had subdued their enemies all around and dwelt in safety, then there would be a fixed place which the Lord would choose for His name to dwell there.  To that place they would bring all their tithes, offerings, and sacrifices, to the Lord, as Moses would instruct them.

(12) “And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your menservants, your maidservants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no part nor inheritance with you."

In the fixed temple that would be built at that time they would rejoice before the Lord, eating with joy and thanksgiving their part of the offerings, they and their entire households, as well as the Levites who were ministers dispersed among them, for they had no inheritance in the promised land.  The people were to include the Levites in their feasts.

(13) “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; (14) But in the place which the LORD shall choose in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you."

Moses cautioned the people to be mindful and not offer their offerings in any place that might please them, but only in the place that the Lord Himself would choose among their tribes, would they offer their burnt offerings and do all that Moses would instruct them to do.

(15) "Nevertheless, you may kill and eat meat within all your gates, whatever your heart desires, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you; the unclean and the clean may eat of it, as of the roebuck and the hart."

Strict commandments would be given by Moses (from God) as to how and what they would offer and sacrifice, but within their own gates and households, they were allowed to eat whatever their hearts desired of that with which the Lord had blessed them.  When Moses referred to the unclean, he was referring to ceremonial uncleanness, like the touching of a dead body or issues of bleeding, etc., that would cause the people to be unclean.  They were not allowed to eat unclean animals that were forbidden, but could eat the flesh of animals considered clean, as with deer and gazelles or antelope.  Most commentators, as well as Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries, said gazelles and deer were meant, while Adam Clarke, in his Commentary on the Bible, wrote that Dr. Shaw, I believe Rev. Barnabas Shaw, the missionary, thought it was the antelope.  Brown-Driver-Briggs's Hebrew Definitions suggested it might even be an extinct animal that was meant.  Whatever animal was meant, it was certainly one of the clean animals permitted by God to eat.

(16) “Only you shall not eat the blood; you shall pour it on the earth like water."

Although they could eat whatever clean meats they desired in their homes, the people were still forbidden to eat the blood of any beast or fowl.  All manner of blood was forbidden whether slain for sacrifice or for common food.  The blood was to be poured out on the ground.

(17) “You may not eat within your gates the tithe of your corn or your new wine or your oil, or the firstlings of herd or your flock, of any of your offerings which you vow, of your freewill offerings, or of the heave offering of your hand."

Although they were allowed to kill and eat any clean animal they desired, the people were forbidden to eat within their gates and homes anything that had been offered to the Lord, except what and when was allowed by the Lord's law.  Even if allowed to be eaten, there were certain procedures in presenting it to the Lord first.  After all, all was the Lord's and they gave their offerings to the Lord in praise and thanksgiving or for atonement, but in most cases they were allowed to enjoy the feasts, but only after ceremony and as instructed by the Lord's law.

(18) “But you must eat them before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD your God chooses, you and your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your gates; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all to which you put your hands."

Finishing the thought started in verse 17, Moses told the people they could not eat of the offerings of the Lord in their houses, but in the place where the Lord told them they could in His law.  There they would cheerfully make and keep feasts in the manner commanded, rejoicing with family and friends, and with the Levites, expressing thankfulness to God for His blessing on the labor of their hands.

(19) “Take heed to yourself that you do not forsake the Levite as long as you live on the earth."

The people were commanded to be careful not to ever forget the Levites as long as they lived.  The Levites had no inheritance in their promised land and only lived on the tithes appointed for their maintenance, and by their inclusion at the feasts described above.  The Levites' lives were dedicated to the service of God and to the ministering to the souls of men, and they were to be furnished at the very least the necessities of life by those souls for whom they ministered for their salvation.

(20) “When the LORD your God shall enlarge your border as He has promised you, and you say, 'I will eat meat,' because your soul longs to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires."

Moses told the people that when the Lord had increased their land by bringing them into the land of Canaan as He had promised, and they craved meat that had been in short supply in the wilderness, they would be allowed to eat as much meat as their hearts desired.

(21) “If the place where the LORD your God has chosen to put His name is too far from you, then you may kill of your herd and of your flock which the LORD has given you, as I have commanded you, and you shall eat in your gates whatever your heart desires."

As the people were obliged to carry their sacrifices to the place of worship where the Lord had chosen to put His name, they might think they had to carry to there all their animals they desired to be slaughtered for meat.  However, Moses was telling them they were under no obligation to do that, and were free to kill them at their homes and eat as much as they desired within their gates in the manner the Lord had commanded (v. 15-17 above).

(22) "Even as the roebuck and the hart are eaten, so you shall eat them, the unclean and the clean alike shall eat of them."

Just as Moses had instructed in verse 15 regarding the animals allowed by law to be eaten as food, as with deer and antelope or gazelles, both those people ceremonially clean and those considered unclean could eat of the animals they killed at their homes.

(23) “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life; you may not eat the life with the flesh."

Once again the people were commanded not to eat the blood of any animal, specifically because the blood was the life and they were forbidden to eat the life with the flesh.  In Leviticus 17:11 they were told more precisely that the blood was given by the Lord to make atonement for their souls; therefore they were forbidden to eat of it.

(24) “You shall not eat it; you shall pour it on the earth like water."

Once again the commandment was repeated (v. 16) that they must not eat of the blood, even of common flesh not used as sacrifice, but pour it on the ground.  When they could not bring the blood to the altar, to pour it out before the Lord, as belonging to Him, they were still to pour it out on the ground, as not belonging to them, because it was the life and only belonged to the author of life, and was to be used for atonement.

(25) “You shall not eat it, that it may go well with you and your children after you, when you shall do what is right in the sight of the LORD."

The children of Israel were not to eat of any blood that it might go well for them and their children, as they had been told in Leviticus 7:27 that any person who ate of blood of any animal was to be cut off from his people.  However, when the people did right in the sight of the Lord in this and all other commands, it would go well for them and their children.

(26) “Only the holy things which you have, and your vowed offerings, you shall take and go to the place which the LORD chooses."

As they were warned in verse 17 above, the holy things like their tithes, their firstborn offerings, their freewill offerings, their heave offerings, or any vowed offerings, were to be taken to the place that the Lord would later choose to put His name.

(27) “And you shall offer your burnt offerings, the meat and the blood, on the altar of the LORD your God; and the blood of your sacrifices shall be poured out on the altar of the LORD your God, and you shall eat the meat."

Those offerings to God were to be presented on the altar of the Lord, and the blood of those sacrifices was to be poured out on the altar, and then the meat only was allowed to be eaten.

(28) “Observe and hear all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the LORD your God."

Moses exhorted the people to really hear and observe all those things he had commanded them from the Lord, as in destroying all symbols of false idols, bringing all holy things to the place the Lord would designate for Him to dwell, the eating of common flesh in their homes, and the prohibition against eating blood, it would go well for them and their children, when they did what was good and right in the sight of their Lord.

(29) “When the LORD your God shall cut off the nations from before you, where you go to possess them, and you succeed them and dwell in their land, (30) Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’"

When their Lord destroyed the nations from before His people and they succeeded them and then dwelt in their lands, the people were warned against being ensnared by following the customs of those people they had dispossessed.  They were warned against even inquiring about those customs, lest they be tempted to do the same.

(31) “You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they have done to their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods."

The people were forbidden to perform any of the rites of the nations before them for their Lord, because everything those nations had done for their gods, He hated.  Those nations had even sacrificed and burned their own children to their gods.

(32) “Whatever I command you, observe to do it; you shall not add to it nor diminish from it."

Moses gave the people one last warning from their Lord that whatever He commanded, precisely that they were to do, neither adding to nor subtracting from what He had told them to do.  This was the same caution Moses had given the people regarding the word of God in Deuteronomy 4:2, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you."  This is also confirmed in Revelation 22:18-19, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."  God is serious about us accepting His word as given.  The Almighty perfect God of the universe doesn't need us mere sinful mortals to improve upon His word, nor decide that parts of it are okay to ignore.  It is perfect as the perfect God gave it.  I've heard the argument that God may be perfect, but imperfect people wrote the Bible.  Is the perfect omniscient God not capable of making sure His word was given to us as it should be?  I have learned something in my study of the Bible.  A precept of God will always be repeated.  As the Bible states in many places, a thing will be established by the word of two or three witnesses.  So it is with what God wants us to know; it will be repeated elsewhere in scripture.  If there is some obscure scripture that seems to tell us something new, you can bet our interpretation is wrong.  People are always looking for new revelations in the word of God, and that is fine, but if you find something new and different, make sure it is repeated elsewhere.  Otherwise, your interpretation is wrong and you are falling into that old trap of Satan, that "you shall be as God" (Genesis 3:5) because you have learned His secret.

Promises for Obedience, Blessings vs. Cursing

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 10:6) And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera; there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead. (7) From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water.

In the last post Moses was making a speech to the people about how unrighteous they were, and that it was only by the mercy and grace of God, and because of the wickedness of the nations they were going in to possess, that they were being given that great land, certainly not for any righteousness of their own.  This verse and the next few seem to be a parenthetical pause in Moses's speech to the people.  Perhaps Moses was stating this in his speech, as he had been relating historical events, but it appears parenthetical nonetheless, whenever Moses said or wrote it.

The children of Israel had taken their journey from Beeroth to Mosera where Aaron died and was buried.  Mosera is said to be the desert of Mount Hor, where Aaron was said to have died and was buried according to Numbers 20:23-28.  Eleazar succeeded his father as high priest.  Some of the names of the other places don't exactly line up with the list of stations in Numbers 33, but most can be explained as in the case of Mosera and Mount Hor, that in one place a city may be mentioned and in another account the region of that city. 

In the last chapter and post, Moses had related how the people had made the golden calf, and that God had been angry enough to destroy them all, and He had also been very angry with Aaron.  Verse 6 shows that the Lord had been gracious in answering Moses's prayers and had reconciled with His people.  He continued to lead them on their journeys, and although Aaron had died, the Lord perpetuated the priest's office through Aaron's son who then became high priest in Aaron's place.  Then the Lord continued guiding His people in their journeys.

(8) At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. (9) Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his inheritance, according as the LORD your God promised him.

These two verses are a continuation of the parenthetical pause.  Either meaning about that time, or perhaps when Eleazar became priest in Aaron's place, there was a renewal of the separation of the Levites to bear the ark of the covenant and to minister to the Lord in the priest's office.  The tribe of Levi had no portion or inheritance in the land of Canaan.  The Lord was the Levites' inheritance, and the Lord's portion, the tithes and offerings which belong to God, were given by Him to the Levites for their subsistence, from generation to generation.

(10) "And I stayed in the mount, according to the first time, forty days and forty nights; and the LORD hearkened to me at that time also, and the LORD would not destroy you."

Verse 10 returns to the words of Moses.  He spoke of the time he had received the second two tablets back from the Lord written by His finger.  He had stayed on the mountain another forty days and nights as he had the first time he had received the original tablets.  He commented that the Lord had listened to his prayer, as He had done many times before, and had relented from His plan to destroy them.

(11) "And the LORD said to me, 'Arise, take your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’"

Answering Moses's prayer and having relented of His plan to destroy His people, the Lord then told Moses to go on before the people and lead them onward to the land the Lord had promised their forefathers.

(12) “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, (13) To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?"

Moses posed the question what did the Lord ask in return for all His mercy and forgiveness of their sins, and for His renewal of His promise to their forefathers?  Just that they turn to Him and obey Him--have a reverential fear of God as the Lord of life and all within the universe, to walk in the ways He told them to walk in His commandments, to love Him, and serve Him, and to keep all the commandments and statutes that Moses was now giving them again.  All these things were for their own good, as the ways of God meant life, and transgressions against His laws meant death.

(14) "Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S your God, the earth also, with all that is in it."

Moses reasoned that after all, God was indeed the maker and possessor of heaven and all the universe of heaven beyond what was seen and known by them; the earth was His and all that was in the earth, as well.

(15) "Yet the LORD had a delight in your fathers to love them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all people, as it is this day."

Even though the entire universe and all that was in it was His, the Lord delighted in their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and loved them, and chose their descendants after them, these children of Israel, to be His very own people, above all other people, as it still was to that day Moses was speaking to them.

(16) “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no more."

Moses exhorted the people to circumcise their hearts, by removing whatever was sinful to the Lord, all transgressions of the heart, all idolatry, etc., and to no longer be a stubborn people.  When Jesus came and told people He had not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, and began to teach the spirit of the law, we see here that this spirit is what God intended all along with His laws.  It was not enough to merely circumcise the flesh, which was but an outward sign of purification, but they must purify their hearts and souls.  As Adam Clarke wrote so beautifully in his Commentary on the Bible, "Loving God with all the heart, soul, mind, and strength, the heart being circumcised to enable them to do it, was, from the beginning, the end, design, and fulfillment of the whole law."

(17) “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and terrible, who shows no partiality nor takes a reward."

Moses further extolled the Lord as God and Lord of all, the one and only true God, almighty and with awesome terror, who showed no partiality to any particular sort of person, and never exchanged favors for bribes, but was merciful and gracious according to His own pleasure and will, having nothing to do with any works of man, for after all, "There is none who does good, no, not one" (Psalm 14:3).

(18) "He does execute judgment for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing."

God's providence and judgment extends to all; He is Father to the fatherless, Protector and Provider for the widow, and loves the stranger, giving life and provision to all, even to the Gentiles, strangers to Israel.  As Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"  God provides not only for His own people, and for the strangers, but to all living creatures.

(19) “Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt."

Moses exhorted the children of Israel to love the stranger, remembering that they were once strangers in the land of Egypt.  Jesus gave us that Golden Rule, “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12).

(20) “You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall cleave, and swear by His name."

Moses further exhorted the people to have a reverential fear of the one true God, and to serve Him, clinging only to Him, and not turning aside to follow false idols, and to swear by His name only.

(21) “He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things which your eyes have seen."

Their Lord God was the object and deserver of all praise.  He alone was the one who had done all the mighty and awesome wonders which they themselves had personally witnessed.

(22) “Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude."

From so small a beginning, when Jacob went into Egypt with a total of seventy people, including himself (Genesis 46:27), the children of Israel had been multiplied to more than 600,000 (Numbers 26:51), as numerous as the stars appeared in heaven.

(Deuteronomy 11:1) “Therefore you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments always."

Chapter 11 of Deuteronomy begins with Moses summing up the reasoning for loving the Lord and always keeping His commandments, because of who He was, and because of all the great and miraculous things He had done for them, including the multiplication of their numbers, the last thing he mentioned at the end of chapter 10.

(2) "And know this day that I do not speak with your children, who have not known and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God, His greatness, His mighty hand, and His stretched out arm, (3) And His miracles, and His acts, which He did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and to all his land."

Moses exhorted the people to take notice that he did not speak to them as their descendants who had not personally seen the chastening of the Lord, or His mighty power and miracles that He had done in Egypt to Pharaoh.  It may be that Moses was only addressing the elders at this point, because the adult generation that had come out of Egypt had died in the wilderness.  However, their children, who would at this time be an elder generation, would have witnessed all the things that took place in Egypt.

(4) "And what He did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots; how He made the water of the Red Sea overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD has destroyed them to this day."

Moses continued describing the miraculous works of their Lord that these people would have witnessed themselves, when they came through the Red Sea parted by the Lord, and then He caused the sea to overflow the Egyptian armies of horses and chariots that had pursued them.  The effects of the destruction of Egypt were felt to that day.

(5) "And what He did for you in the wilderness until you came to this place."

They had seen all the ways the Lord had provided for them in the wilderness, leading them, feeding them with manna from heaven, providing water, etc.

(6) “And what He did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance in their possession, in the midst of all Israel."

They had also witnessed the chastisements of the Lord, how He opened the earth to swallow up Dathan and Abiram and all their households and belongings, openly before all Israel.  These chastisements were always for Israel's welfare, just as God's provisions were acknowledged to be.  The dangerous rebellion of Dathan and Abiram and Korah and his company threatened to destroy the entire nation of Israel if it had not been immediately crushed by the hand of the Lord.

(7) "But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which He did."

Moses summed up what he started in verse 2.  He was not speaking to their children, who did not personally witness all these things, but he spoke to the people who had personally known all these great acts of the Lord.

(8) “Therefore you shall keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land where you go to possess it."

Because these people had personal knowledge and experience with all the Lord was and what He did, they should know better than anyone to keep all the commandments of the Lord, that were designed for their good and would strengthen them and enable them to go in and possess their promised land.

(9) "And that you may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey."

Keeping the commandments of their Lord would allow their days to be prolonged in the land promised to their forefathers and their descendants, a land abounding in all good things.

(10) “For the land which you go in to possess is not like the land of Egypt from where you came out, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a garden of herbs."

Moses told the people the land they were going in to possess was not like the land in Egypt from where they had come.  I believe the message Moses was trying to convey is that this was not like the land in Egypt where they labored to sow their seed, and carried water to water it, or used their feet to dig furrows, in a garden they planted in the midst of the dry country that rarely had rain.

(11) "But the land, where you go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of heaven."

Unlike Egypt that was mainly flat and dry desert, the land they were going to possess was a land of hills and valleys, and was watered, refreshed, and made fruitful by rain from heaven.  The Lord Himself watered this good land; the people would not have to labor so hard to bring water to their crops.

(12) "A land which the LORD your God cares for; the eyes of the LORD your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year."

This special land promised by God to His people was specially cared for by Him.  The eyes of the Lord were always on it from the beginning of the year to the end of it.  The Lord's eyes are everywhere, and all provisions come from Him, but in Israel's case, He had given His people the best land with His special blessings, if they would but follow His instructions in order to receive the best.

An interesting side note comes from something I read by John Wesley, in his Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible.  He wrote that later writers wrote what seemed to be a contradiction about the land of Canaan.  They described it as a barren soil, far from a land flowing with milk and honey.  As Wesley said, rather than questioning the authority of scripture, it rather confirmed it, that the land was blessed because God was in it, and barren when God was not.  As Psalm 33:12 states, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD..."

(13) "'And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently to My commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, (14) That I will give you the rain of your land in its due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil.'"

Moses, speaking the words of God Himself, said that if the people would diligently follow His commandments, and would love and serve Him with all their hearts, He would give them rain in due season.  That is, it would first rain at seed time, and later rain, as needed, before harvest.  Again this rather confirms that if God did not bless the land with His rain, it would indeed be a barren land.

(15) "'And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you may eat and be filled.’"

This is a continuation of the thought started in verse 13, that if they followed the Lord's commandments, they would have rain when best needed for their crops, and grass as needed for their livestock, so that they would be well fed.

(16) "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart not be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, (17) And the LORD'S wrath be aroused against you, and He shut up the heaven that there be no rain, and the land does not yield its fruit, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD gives you."

Moses warned the people not to allow themselves to be deceived and turn aside to other gods.  Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Entire Bible, pointed out reasonably, that the people might come to observe the influence of the sun, moon, and stars, upon their land, an influence put in motion by God Himself, but the objects falsely worshiped by heathen nations.  However, their hearts were just as likely to be deceived by any number of false worship they witnessed from neighboring nations.  The Lord, that jealous God, ever zealous in His protection of His people, would turn from them, shutting up heaven stopping the rain, and their land would no longer yield its fruit and they would perish from the land the Lord was giving to them.

(18) “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes."

Moses exhorted the people to treasure the words he had spoken, specifically the word of God and His laws, in their hearts and in their whole being.  Their eyes should constantly be fixed on the word of God; as signs bound on their hands and foreheads, they should always be in view, on their minds and in their souls.

(19) “And you shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

They were to teach their children God's laws, speaking about them constantly, whether in their houses or in public; they were to be an ongoing way of life--living and teaching the word of God from the moment they woke till the time they retired.

(20) “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, (21) That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth."

They should write the laws on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates, again as constant reminders when they were leaving and upon their return, and also as a sign to other passers by.  Again they were to do all these things that their days and the days of their children might be long in the land the Lord had sworn to their forefathers before them.

(22) “For if you diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, (23) Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves."

On the eve of their entering their promised land to possess it, Moses declared to the people the promise of their Lord that if they diligently kept His commandments, loved and held fast to Him, and walked in His ways, He would drive out all the nations from before them, and they would possess the nations that had been greater and mightier than they were.

(24) “Every place on which the soles of your feet tread shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the uttermost sea shall your coast be."

Every place in their promised land of Canaan that they trod upon would be their possession, from the wilderness of Paran in the south to Lebanon in the north, and from the Euphrates River on the eastern side to the Mediterranean Sea which was the western-most coast.  This map shared on Pinterest shows the Promised Land as described in this verse:

(25) “No man shall be able to stand against you; the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as He has said to you."

No man in the places within the borders of the promised land upon which they would tread, would be able to stand against the children of Israel, because their Lord would would put fear and dread upon all the inhabitants of the land, who would hear of all the mighty works of God to bring His people to this place.  This was originally prophesied in the song at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:14), and the Lord had indeed told them this in Deuteronomy 2:25.

(26) “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; (27) A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day; (28) And a curse, if you will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known."

Moses conveyed to the people that they had been presented with a choice between blessing and a curse.  If they obeyed the commandments of their Lord, which were instructions for life, they would have the blessings that would naturally occur as a result of living right.  That's not to say that God couldn't or wouldn't personally give them extra blessings, but the laws of God are about life and blessing, so following them and walking in the ways of God, does in itself bring blessing.  The people would be choosing a curse if they chose to disobey God's commandments and turn away from Him to go after false gods they had never known, choosing to leave what is certain blessing for unknown mysteries, which always lead to depravity and death.

(29) "And it shall come to pass, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal."

When the Lord had brought them into their promised land, the Israelites were to designate two mountains, one as a mountain of blessings, and the other as a mountain of cursings.  These two mountains were and are parallel to each other, Mount Gerizim being southward, and Mount Ebal northward, and the valley of Shechem in between.  As seen in the photo below, also shared on Pinterest, the mountains are very similar in height and shape: 

"Gerizim" meant "cut off" or "cut down", by implication "cutters down" or "reapers", perhaps designating reapers of harvest from a fertile land.  "Ebal" meant "bald" or "bare", surely implying a barren mountain.  Although it may not be as noticeable now as it was then, Adam Clarke, who lived in the late 1700's and early 1800's, wrote, "That Gerizim is very fruitful, and that Ebal is very barren, is the united testimony of all who have traveled in those parts. See Ludolf, Reland, Rab, Benjamin, and Mr. Maundrell."  How could it be that two mountains so similar in height and shape and so close together, be so different?  It can only be by the providence of God that one can be so fertile, and that without God, one is cursed to barrenness.

(30) “Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the champaign opposite Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?"

Moses further described the location of the two mountains that would be designated as a mountain of blessing and a mountain of cursing.  They were across the Jordan River in the land of Canaan in the plain opposite Gilgal beside the plains of Moreh, near Shechem, which is in the valley between the two mountains.  The following map shows the location of the two mountains in Canaan:

John Wesley made an interesting observation regarding the plains of Moreh:  "This was one of the first places that Abram came to in Canaan. So that in sending them thither to hear the blessing and the curse, they were minded of the promise made to Abram in that very place, Gen.12:6-7."

(31) "For you shall pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which the LORD your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell in it."

Moses assured the children of Israel that they would indeed cross over the Jordan River and claim their promised land and would live in it.

(32) "And you shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day."

Moses further proclaimed that the people would observe and follow all the Lord's statutes and judgments that Moses was giving to the people.  Of course, that is the only way that ensured their continual possession of their promised land.  To be able to achieve what Moses stated in verse 31 was to do what Moses said in verse 32.

Moses Reminds the People of Their Unrighteousness

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 9:1) “Hear, O Israel: You are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to possess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fenced up to heaven."

Moses appears to have started a new discourse here, with some pause after his speech in the preceding chapters, because he seems to be gathering the Israelites' attention again with his words, "Hear, O Israel."  The children of Israel were about to pass over the Jordan River.  The original word translated as "this day" was "yom", and it didn't always mean "today" as some translations assert.  It was a period of time at hand.  They were about to go into their promised land and possess nations that were bigger and stronger than they were, with great walled and fortified cities.  How else could they do this but by the grace and power of God, as Moses was about to confirm to them.

(2) "A people great and tall, the children of the Anakims, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’"

The people of the nations the Israelites were about to dispossess were descendants of the Anakim, who were said to be giants, and apparently there was a known fear of confronting them.

(3) "Understand therefore this day, that the LORD your God is He who goes over before you; as a consuming fire He shall destroy them, and He shall bring them down before your face, so shall you drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the LORD has said to you."

Indeed, Moses did go on to reassure the Israelites that it was their God who went before them to dispossess those giants in their huge fortified nations.  "As a consuming fire", that phrase they had personally come to understand, God would destroy those people and nations before them, so that the Israelites could drive them out and destroy them quickly, as their Lord had told them previously.  In Deuteronomy 7:22-23, Moses had told them the Lord would completely destroy their enemies from before them, but He would do it little by little, not all at once so as to overwhelm them.

(4) "Speak not in your heart, after the LORD your God has cast them out from before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD drives them out from before you."

Moses cautioned the people against thinking that it was because of their own righteousness that the Lord had brought them into that promised land.  The cup of those heathen nations' iniquity was now full, and it was God's will that they now be destroyed.  Israel was merely the instrument He used to destroy them.  He desired to give His people a great land, but it had nothing to do with their own deservedness.  God can use anyone He wants to fulfill His will; we must always remember He used a donkey, so He could use anyone and it has absolutely nothing to do with how righteous they are.

(5) "Not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go to possess their land, but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may perform the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."

Again Moses repeated that it was not for the Israelites' righteousness or the uprightness of their hearts that they were being given that land, but because of the nations' wickedness that they were to be driven out.  By then giving the land to the children of Israel, God would be fulfilling His word that He swore to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

(6) "Understand therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess it because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people."

Moses once again exhorted the people to really understand that it had nothing to do with their righteousness that the Lord was giving them that land, because frankly, they weren't righteous at all!  They were a stubborn group of people.

(7) "Remember, and do not forget, how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness; from the day that you departed out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD."

Moses reminded the people and exhorted them not to forget how often they had continually angered their Lord in the wilderness from the time they left Egypt up until that point, by their stubborn rebellion against Him.

(8) “Also in Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, so that the LORD was angry with you to have destroyed you."

Moses reminded them that in Horeb, they had so egregiously provoked their Lord to wrath when they made the golden calf and worshiped it while Moses was on the mount receiving the Ten Commandments, that He would have destroyed them then.  In Exodus 32:10, God had proposed to Moses to destroy all His people, and make of him, Moses, a great nation instead.  A people, who but by the intercession of Moses, would have been totally destroyed for their unrighteousness, had no reason at all to believe it was because of their righteousness that they were being given that land, but in utter humility should be thankful for their Lord's grace and mercy.

(9) “When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the LORD made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water."

Moses went on to detail exactly what had happened at the time the Lord almost destroyed His people.  Moses had gone up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone which contained God's commandments, the people's part of their covenant with God.  Moses had stayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights, not eating or drinking anything.

(10) "And the LORD delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them according to all the words which the LORD had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. (11) And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant."

Moses went on to describe how the Lord had given him two tablets of stone, written by the finger of God, which had the Ten Commandments, the same exact commandments He had spoken to the people out of the fire and smoke that day the people had assembled to hear Him.  He had given the tablets to Moses at the end of his forty days and forty nights.

(12) "And the LORD said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’"

Moses described how it was the Lord who told him to hurry back down to the people because, unbelievably, although they had just heard from the Lord Himself about six weeks prior, they had made for themselves a molded idol.  It sounded as if the Lord had already disowned that people, so highly displeased with them, that he called them Moses's people, the ones Moses had brought out of Egypt. 

(13) “Furthermore the LORD spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and behold, they are a stiff-necked people. (14) Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’"

It was at that point the Lord had told Moses, and he at this time, told the people the Lord's words, that He had witnessed that those people were a stubborn lot, and He asked Moses to leave Him alone so that He might destroy them all and blot out their name as His special people, and He would then make a nation out of Moses that would be greater and mightier than they were.  Most of the commentaries I study wrote that when the Lord said to leave Him alone, He was telling Moses not to plead or intercede for the people.  The 1599 Geneva Bible Translation Notes even had written, "...Demonstrating that the prayers of the faithful are a bar to restrain God's anger so that he does not consume all."  That goes too far for me.  Nothing can restrain God!  Whatever He wills will happen.  Consider the prayers of David, a man after God's own heart, for his and Bathsheba's firstborn baby.  God said that baby would die, and no amount of prayers from David changed that.  God's ultimate will shall be done, but that's not to say that prayers can't change an outcome that is within God's will.  Consider Jonah's prophecy to Nineveh that they would be destroyed in forty days.  The Ninevites repented and were not destroyed.  Did that make Jonah a false prophet?  Indeed not!  Why else would he be sent to the Ninevites to declare that prophecy, but to have them repent and follow God?  In that case, it was God's will that they repent and follow Him, and they did just that, at least for awhile.

Back to the verses above.  Perhaps God was saying He didn't want to hear anything from Moses, but that wasn't because He thought it might change His mind, and He didn't want that to happen.  I believe He was merely saying, go on down and leave Me, maybe don't talk anymore, but mainly just GO and see about your people.

(15) “So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands."

Moses described how he indeed left the Lord at that point, and came down from the mountain that burned with fire, and he was carrying the two tablets given him by God.

(16) “And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the LORD your God, and had made for yourselves a molded calf; you had turned aside quickly out of the way which the LORD had commanded you."

Moses related what he saw when he came down from the mountain with the Ten Commandments.  He saw that the people had quickly turned from God's commandments, and had sinned against the Lord by making a molded calf!  It really is incredible when you think about it.  They had heard the actual voice of God telling them the Ten Commandments, which had terrified them; and the mountain was still burning with fire, which should have been a reminder, and there they were making a golden calf!  But then again, I shouldn't be too smug.  Although this is a vivid picture of how quickly people can forget God, I am quite sure I have seen an awesome work of God, and then forgotten it and fallen into sinful faithlessness a mere six weeks later.

(17) "And I took the two tablets and cast them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes."

Moses described how he had thrown the two tablets containing the Ten Commandments, written by the finger of God, and broke them.  That signified that the people had broken their covenant with God.  After they had heard the voice of the Lord, and then asked Moses to go to the Lord himself and then tell them what the Lord had said, so they did not have to try to bear His great and terrible voice, fearing they could not continue to hear the voice of the Lord and live; and after they had promised to listen to the word of the Lord as Moses told them, and they would do it--even then, they so quickly had broken their promise and their covenant with God.  God had said at the time, "Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!"  God knew then they would so quickly fall away.

(18) “And I fell down before the LORD, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sins which you sinned, in doing wickedly in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger."

Moses related that he fell down before the Lord in prayer and supplication for Israel.  He fasted another forty days and forty nights because of the sins of the children of Israel in doing so wicked a thing as making the golden calf and worshiping it as God.  At first reading, it appears that Moses may have added to the original story as this part doesn't seem to appear in the historical account.  However, as we continue to read, we see that Moses is referring to the second forty days and nights he spent with the Lord in intercession for the people.  In verse 18 he refers to it, and then in verses 19-24 he goes back and fills in the details leading up to his second forty days and nights, which he mentions again in verse 25.

(19) “For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the LORD was angry against you to destroy you. But the LORD hearkened to me at that time also."

Moses related to the people that he had been afraid for them.  He had seen the hot wrath of the Lord and heard His intent to destroy them because of what they had done.  However, the Lord did listen to Moses as he entreated for the people, as he had done many times before.  In this, Moses is seen as a symbol of Christ, the Mediator and Advocate between sinners and a holy God who by His nature cannot abide sin.

Again the order of the retelling seems out of kilter.  Was Moses saying that eventually the Lord relented of His plan to destroy the people, and then filled in the details leading up to that point?  When reading the original account of the incident, we find Moses did briefly plead for the people at the end of his first forty days before the Lord told him to leave.  Exodus 32:14 stated that the Lord had changed His mind about completely destroying the people at that point.  However, that wasn't known to Moses at the time.  He did not know the Lord had relented of His original plan until after He met with the Lord again (Exodus 32:31).  Obviously, Moses later did come to know that the Lord had relented before he left the mountain the first time, because he is the one who wrote these books of the Bible; perhaps he was stating in the latter part of verse 19 that the Lord had indeed relented at that point.

(20) “And the LORD was very angry with Aaron to have destroyed him; and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time."

Moses told the people that the Lord was very angry with Aaron at the time, too, and would have destroyed him also.  After all, as high priest, he should have been faithful above all.  Our religious leaders are held to a higher standard because they are responsible for leading their congregations.  However, Aaron had gone along with the people, very easily, in fact, without any hesitation.

(21) “And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, ground it very small, until it was as small as dust; and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mountain."

Moses described how he had taken their golden calf and burned it in fire and ground it to dust, and cast the dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.  Additionally, something he didn't relate here, Moses made the people drink the water in the brook with the gold dust, demonstrating the worthlessness of their idol they could now drink.

(22) “And at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the LORD to wrath."

Moses reminded the people there were other times they had provoked the Lord with their complaining and murmuring about lack of water.

(23) “Likewise, when the LORD sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God, and you did not believe Him nor hearken to His voice."

Another time they had provoked the Lord, when the Lord had told them to go in and possess the land He had given them, they had instead sent spies and believed their bad report, and would not go in.

(24) “You have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you."

Moses summed up his retelling of the people's rebellion and unrighteousness that he started in verse 7, when he told them that ever since they left Egypt until they came to their current place, they had been rebellious against the LORD.  This was to illustrate to them that it was not for any righteousness of their own that the Lord was giving them this land, as he stated in verses 4-6.  They weren't righteous at all!

(25) "Thus I fell down before the LORD forty days and forty nights, as I fell down at the first, because the LORD had said He would destroy you."

Moses returned to his point he started in verse 18, that because of their terrible sin of idolatry, and his fear that the Lord would indeed destroy them, Moses fell down before the Lord in prayer and supplication for the people, and fasted for forty days and forty nights, as he had done when he first went up the mountain to receive the tablets with the Ten Commandments.

(26) "I prayed therefore to the LORD, and said, ‘O Lord GOD, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand.'"

Moses recited his prayer to the people that the Lord not destroy His people and His inheritance, whom He had chosen and redeemed through His greatness, not because of any greatness of the people He chose, the people He had brought out of bondage in Egypt with mighty miracles, to be His own people.

(27) "‘Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin.'"

Moses continued the retelling of his prayer at the time.  He pleaded with the Lord to remember His servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom He had first made His covenant, and not to look on the stubbornness and wickedness of this current people.

(28) "'Lest the land from where You brought us out say, "Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.”'"

Moses had turned to the honor and glory of his Lord in his plea.  He didn't want it erroneously said that because the Lord had been unable to fulfill His promise, and because He hated the people, He had just brought them out into the wilderness to kill them.  Once again, this proves Moses's point that the people had no righteousness of their own.  It was only for the glory of God and the righteousness of their forefathers and the Lord's promise to them, that they weren't destroyed.

(29) "‘Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’"

Moses concluded his prayer to the Lord by saying they were, after all, His people and His inheritance, if only because of His glory and mighty power in bringing them out of Egypt to this land as promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

(Deuteronomy 10:1) “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make an ark of wood.'"

After Moses's second forty days of fasting and prayer, the Lord told him to hew two stone tablets just like the first ones God had given him, and to bring them up to Him on the mountain.  Additionally, He told him to make a wooden chest.

(2) "‘And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’"

The Lord told Moses He would write on the two tablets the words that were on the first tablets, the Ten Commandments, and he was to put them in the wooden chest.  I can't help but notice that God chose the words "which you broke".  God doesn't appear angry with Moses for breaking the tablets, but I believe the point is that God did not break His covenant; the people broke it.  God agreed to renew it, but this time asked Moses to prepare the stones.  Perhaps this was to illustrate the preparation of the heart by conviction and humility to receive God's law upon it.

(3) "And I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up into the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand."

Moses did as the Lord had commanded him.  He made a chest of acacia wood, and hewed two stone tablets like the first ones the Lord had given him, and took them up into the mountain.  It is not clear if this is the same elaborate Ark of the Covenant that Moses managed the building of rather than actually crafting himself, or if he had indeed made a perhaps simple temporary chest himself.

(4) “And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me."

The Lord wrote the Ten Commandments on the two stone tablets Moses had brought up the mountain with him.  They were the same words, the very same Ten Commandments, the Lord had written on the first two tablets, and the same words the Lord had spoken to the people that day out of the fire and smoke on the mountain.

(5) “And I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.”

Moses left the presence of the Lord and came down with the two tablets and put them in the ark it is written he himself had made.  The phrase "there they are" might suggest the tablets were in the same place Moses had placed them then until the current day he was speaking to the people, which would mean it was the same Ark of the Covenant Bezaleel had made (Exodus 37:1).  Perhaps rather than making it himself, Moses ordered it be made, and while he was on the mountain receiving the commandments from God, the people were earnestly preparing for them.  Perhaps Moses did indeed make a wooden chest, that was later embellished by Bezaleel in the manner instructed by God, or maybe it was a temporary chest.  Maybe the phrase "there they are" just meant those tablets Moses had brought down and placed in an ark were now in the place he pointed out to the Israelites at the time he was talking to them.  In Moses's retelling of events, he did not necessarily go into every last detail, and perhaps didn't always relate events in the actual order of their occurrence, but rather linked events that were related to each other to illustrate his points.

Moses's Exhortations and Warnings

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 7:1) “When the LORD your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you;"

Moses continued his farewell speech started several chapters back.  He began this part by telling the people when God had brought them into their promised land, He would have cast out many nations from before them, specifically seven nations greater and stronger than they were--the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

(2) "And when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall strike them and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them."

Moses continued with the warning he began in verse 1, that when their Lord had delivered those mighty nations over to them, they were commanded to utterly destroy them, showing no mercy to them.  They were certainly not to make any agreements or treaties with them.  The Lord was not merely making room for His people, but the cup of these nations' iniquity was at that time full, and it was the time the Lord had willed they should be punished for all their crimes of idolatry, incest, murder, etc.  Therefore He called upon His people to completely destroy them and forbade them to make any sort of covenant with them.  God could have certainly destroyed these people Himself at any time, but He chose to have His chosen people do it.  I believe it was to give His people a choice; this was a symbol of Christians in a fallen world, either choosing life in the ways of their one true God, or choosing death by dabbling in the ways of the wicked world.

(3) "Neither shall you make marriages with them; you shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. (4) For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly."

The children of Israel were commanded not to marry into any of these nations, for they would be drawn away from following the Lord and into worshiping false gods.  The Lord would not tolerate such idolatry and they would be destroyed suddenly, if not by the immediate hand of God, certainly as a result of their choice of death with the world.

(5) “But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire."

The children of Israel were commanded to destroy all symbols of the heathen nations' idol worship--their altars; their statues; their groves, "asherah", which were sacred poles or trees; and all their engraved images.

(6) “For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a special people to Himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth."

Moses reminded them that they were a holy people to their Lord, not that they were holy of themselves, but because they were chosen by God to be His separate people; He chose them above all the other people of the world.

(7) “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the fewest of all people."

Moses pointed out that the children of Israel were not loved and chosen by God because they were a great many people in number.  They, in fact, were very small in number at that time, the fewest, stated Moses.  Once again that scripture comes to mind which says that God chose the weak things of the world to confound the mighty (1 Corinthians 1:27).

(8) "But because the LORD loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt."

Because the Lord loved them freely with an unmerited love, and because He kept His oath He swore to their patriarchs, He brought them out of bondage from Pharaoh and Egypt with mighty power and awesome wonders.

(9) “Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy with them who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations."

Moses exhorted the people to recognize that their Lord was the only true and faithful God who kept His covenant with His people, and showed mercy to those who loved Him and kept His commandments to a thousand generations, a reference to Exodus 20:6 when God gave the commandment not to make or serve false idols.

(10) “And He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them; He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face."

Contrary to the love and mercy He would show thousands of them who loved Him and kept His commandments, the Lord would punish those who hated Him openly where they would see it and know it and be unable to avoid it.  Those who hate the Lord cannot hurt Him but they can ruin themselves as they choose death rather than life in Him.  The Lord will not be slack with those who hate Him, and will not defer the execution of His righteous judgment, but will openly bring it upon the sinners.

(11) “Therefore you shall keep the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you this day, to do them."

For all the reasons given above, Moses exhorted the people to keep all the commandments, statutes, and judgments that Moses commanded they do in the name of the Lord and by His authority, to observe and do them.

(12) "Therefore it shall come to pass, if you listen to these judgments, and keep and do them, that the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which He swore to your fathers."

It was a covenant made between God and His people.  The people's part was to listen to His judgments and commandments, and observe and do them.  Then God would do His part to keep His covenant and favor upon them as He had promised to their patriarchs.

(13) “And He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your corn and your wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you."

God's covenant with His people was to love them, bless them, and multiply their numbers, blessing the fruit of their wombs as well as the fruit of their land and the increase of their herds and flocks, in the land promised to their forefathers.

(14) “You shall be blessed above all peoples; there shall not be a male or female barren among you or among your cattle."

Wow!  What a promise!  They would be blessed above all peoples of the world, and there would not be one barren one among them and among their livestock.

(15) “And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, upon you; but will lay them upon all those who hate you."

The Lord would take away all sickness and not put on them any of the diseases they had seen in Egypt.  It would be almost as the Garden of Eden again!  There would be no sickness and no barrenness, only blessings!  That is, if the people chose life in their God and in His wise commandments.  Those punishments would afflict their enemies, those who hated Israel and their God, and chose the ways of death.

(16) "And you shall consume all the people whom the LORD your God shall deliver you; your eye shall have no pity on them; neither shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you."

Once again Moses gave the command that they were to destroy all the people the Lord delivered to them, showing no pity for them, and having nothing to do with their idols, as doing so would prove to be a snare to them which would bring them to destruction.

(17) “If you should say in your heart, ‘These nations are greater than I; how can I dispossess them?’ (18) You shall not be afraid of them, but shall well remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. (19) The great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out, so shall the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid."

If they should have thoughts that the nations they were dispossessing were greater and mightier than theirs, and they had doubts to how they could overcome them, they were instructed not to be afraid, but remember all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, a nation mightier than theirs, that held them in bondage.  All the trials, plagues, and miracles, which the Lord had used to bring them out of Egypt, He would do again to these people of whom they were afraid, in order to bring them into their promised land.

(20) “Moreover the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until those who are left and hide themselves from you, are destroyed."

Additionally, if any of their enemies survived and hid from them, the Lord would then send in hornets to drive out and destroy them, so that none would be left.

(21) “You shall not be terrified of them, for the LORD your God is among you, a mighty God and terrible."

Therefore, the people were not to be afraid of their enemies because their Lord was with them, an awesome God, mighty to save His people and a terror to their enemies.

(22) “And the LORD your God will put out those nations before you little by little; you may not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. (23) But the LORD your God shall deliver them to you, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they be destroyed."

Moses told the people the Lord would drive those nations out little by little, for their good, that they not be overrun by the animals left behind.  Although the Lord could have struck all their enemies at once, Moses showed the wisdom in God's plan to do it little by little.  This would have been an encouragement to the people, as they might have become discouraged if they thought they were not able to totally destroy all their enemies.  They were to have no fear or doubt, the Lord would indeed destroy them little by little until they were totally destroyed.

(24) “And He shall deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall destroy their names from under heaven; there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them."

The Lord would also deliver the kings of those nations into their hands, and they were to also utterly destroy them as well as destroy their names and reigns forever.  No man would be able to stand against them until all were destroyed.

(25) "The graven images of their gods shall you burn with fire; you shall not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. (26) Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it; you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing."

Moses repeated the commandment to destroy all the images of their gods; specifically they were to be burned with fire.  They were not to covet nor take any of the gold or silver on them, lest they might be tempted to keep it and even worship it to some degree.  They weren't to bring anything belonging to or making up those false gods into their houses, lest they be cursed as the false idols were cursed.  They must totally detest them as the abhorrent things they were.

(Deuteronomy 8:1) "All the commandments which I command you this day, you shall observe to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in to possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers."

Moses repeated the exhortation to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord, as he seemed to do over and over again.  This was surely designed to impress it on their minds and to show the importance and necessity of it.  Again Moses also repeated the blessings they would receive if they would observe and do all the commandments; they would live and multiply in the land promised to their forefathers.

(2) "And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not."

Moses exhorted the people to remember all the way their Lord had led them the past forty years in the wilderness.  This didn't just mean the path they took, but all the miracles of provision, protection, and deliverance, as well as God's dealings with them in their frequent bouts of disobedience.  These were to try them and humble them, to know what was in their hearts, to know whether they would keep His commandments or not.  Obviously, God knew whether they would keep the commandments or not, but the testing of their faith was really for their benefit.

(3) "And he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live."

The Lord had humbled them, allowing them to hunger, so that He might show them their need for Him.  Not only did He provide them food, but it was a miraculous food from heaven that no one had ever seen before.  They needed to learn that they did not live by food alone, but by the word of their Lord; He gave them the rules for life, and life more abundant.

(4) “Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years."

Miraculously, their clothes never wore out, neither had their feet swelled or blistered (another definition of the original word) after walking so many miles for so many years.

(5) "You shall also consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you."

Moses asked the people to consider the Lord's chastisement of them the same as a father might discipline his son, and therefore should be seen as loving gestures to prevent their destruction.

(6) “Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him."

Therefore, because He had always provided for them and protected them, and chastened them only for their ultimate good, they should revere Him, keep His commandments, and walk in His ways.

(7) “For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that flow out of valleys and hills; (8) A land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; (9) A land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness; you shall not lack anything in it, a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you may dig copper."

Moses reminded the people that their Lord was bringing them into a good land, having plenty of everything they might need or want--plenty of water, grains, fruits, grape vines, olive oil, and honey.  They would be able to eat their fill with no fear of scarcity; they would not lack a thing.  In addition, the land had iron and copper mines as plentiful as stones.

(10) “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you."

When the people had eaten of their good land and were satisfied, Moses reminded them to thank and bless their Lord for giving that great land to them.

(11) “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today."

Moses warned them not to forget their Lord by not adhering to all His commandments, statutes, and judgments, as Moses was giving them at that time.

(12) "Lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwelt in them; (13) And when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; (14) Then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

He cautioned them against getting full and wealthy in a life of ease where all they had was increased, and letting their hearts become puffed up with pride, and forgetting their Lord who brought them out of bondage to bring them to that good land and good life.

(15) "Who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water; who brought you water out of the flinty rock; (16) Who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might prove you, to do you good in the end."

Not only had their Lord brought them to this good land, but Moses reminded them how He had brought them through perils, and hunger, and drought.  He had fed them with that miraculous bread from heaven that even their forefathers had never seen.  He had also brought water out of a flinty rock.  All these things He had done to show them their need for dependence on Him, which was for their ultimate good, as His ways were and are always about life and a blessed life, at that.

(17) "And you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' (18) But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day."

Not only might they be tempted to forget their Lord, but they might even come to believe it was they themselves, by their own power and might and wit, who had gathered all that wealth.  Moses exhorted them to always remember that it was their Lord God who had given them the talents and wherewithal to get that wealth.  He had done that as part of His covenant with their patriarchs, to give this good land of Canaan to their descendants, and to make them a rich and flourishing people.

(19) "And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish."

Moses gave the people a stern warning that if they did forget their God and follow false idols, they would certainly perish.  It might be by an immediate judgment of God, but it could be by famine, pestilence, or sword by their enemies, because as stated before, God's ways are life, but the ways of the world are death.

(20) “As the nations which the LORD destroys before your face, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God."

If the people did forget their Lord, just as the heathen nations were destroyed from before them, so would they perish because they were not obedient to the author of life.  Who else but the author of life could better give us the precepts for life?

The two chapters in this post have been pretty straight forward without too much explanation needed.  Basically, Moses is giving it all he's got because he knows he won't be with these people much longer.  When you consider how faithless they were with him, you can just imagine what he fears if he is not with them, so this exhortation of his is long and passionate, almost pleading with the people to remember their Lord and serve only Him, not just for the sake of their one true God of their forefathers, the God of the universe, but so it may go well with them because He alone was author and giver of their lives.

Another Exhortation to Obedience and What to Teach Their Children

Continuing a chronological Bible study:

(Deuteronomy 6:1) "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it."

In the last chapter and post, Moses had given a review of the Ten Commandments.  In the following chapters he continued with a review of all the other laws, statutes, and judgments, that the Lord had given him to teach to the children of Israel that they might live according to them in their promised land.

(2) "That you might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged."

Moses continued.  Learning all the commands, statutes, and judgments of the Lord would also teach the people a reverential fear for their awesome God, a respect for His sovereign authority as lawgiver, and make them feel ever bound to obey Him, and to teach that to the generations that came after them.  By doing this their days might be long in this world.

(3) "Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you, in the land that flows with milk and honey."

Moses continued his exhortation to the people of Israel to really listen, understand, and perform the commandments as given, that it might go well with them and that they might increase mightily in wealth and numbers, just as their Lord had promised in their land abundant with all good things.

(4) “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD."

Moses drew the people's attention to the fact that their Lord Jehovah was the one and only true God, and there was no other.

(5) "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might."

Since there was only one God and that was the God of Israel, they were to love Him alone completely with all they had.  Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the Bible, described it this way:  "The 'heart' is mentioned as the seat of the understanding; the 'soul' as the center of will and personality; the 'might' as representing the outgoings and energies of all the vital powers."

(6) “And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart."

Loving the Lord with all their hearts, they should also love His word and commandments and hold them dear to their hearts.

(7) "And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

The children of Israel were to teach the commandments diligently to their children.  The original word translated "diligently" was "shanan" and meant more precisely "sharpen, pierce, whet".  They were to teach their children again and again and again, sharpening or refining them, as the Lord spoke of refining His people as silver (Zechariah 13:9, Malachi 3:3).  The commandments should be taught and discussed in the home, and outside the home, in the public square, if you will.  The people should begin and end the day with the Lord's word.

(8) "And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes."

Just as one might tie a string around a finger or a cord around the wrist to help him remember something, so should the people do to always remember the commands of their Lord.  Figuratively, they were always to be on the minds of the people.  Literally, the Jewish people wore phylacteries with a piece of inscribed parchment on their foreheads and on their arms; the word was literally bound on their hands and as frontlets between their eyes, certainly constant reminders of the Lord's commands.

(9) "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Let the commandments of the Lord be written on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates to be reminders as they left and came back.  It would also surely serve as a sign to anyone who passed by that they were children of the one true God and were not ashamed of Him or His word.

(10) "And it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you great and goodly cities which you did not build, (11) And houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant; when you have eaten and are full, (12) Beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage."

Moses exhorted the people to always remember their Lord who brought them out of bondage in Egypt.  When they had settled in their promised land with all the great things around them that they themselves did not have to build or furnish, Moses warned them not to forget their Lord who was the One who brought them out of bondage and misery to give them this wealth and ease.

(13) “You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him, and shall swear by His name."

The people were to revere their Lord and serve only Him.  They were to swear oaths in His name only.  The original word translated as "swear" was "shaba", and Strong's defines it literally as "to seven oneself, that is, swear (as if by repeating a declaration seven times)."  Seven in the Bible represents completeness, perfection.  Therefore the meaning of the scripture might actually be, rather than about swearing oaths, about completely recognizing and openly confessing that their Lord alone was the one true God of the universe, and there was no other.  Consider Isaiah 45:23 when the Lord said, "every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."  When that scripture was referenced in the New Testament, it was written, "every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God."

Albert Barnes pointed out that in Matthew 5:34, Jesus said, "Swear, not at all."  However, it must be noted that He went on to expand on this that people should not swear by heaven, for it was God's throne; not by the earth, for it was God's footstool; not by Jerusalem, for it was the city of God; not even by their own bodies or lives, for they were not the authors of their own lives, but only God was.  This seems consistent with Moses's declaration that there was only one God that was to be feared, served, and confessed to Him alone.  As with so many of the laws that had been given in the Old Testament, the people had veered from the spirit of the law.  Jesus was all about teaching the heart of the law.  He said He came not to change one bit of the law, but He often pointed out the spirit of the law and how people had transgressed.  In this case, people had turned to the practice of swearing by anything other than God, because they had no intention of keeping their oath.  Jesus said they should not be swearing at all, because it was all God's, and that they should let their "yes" mean "yes", and their "no" mean "no".  Jesus was not referring to oaths sworn before a court; He was once again correcting a false interpretation of the law.  People were to always speak the truth, and swearing by something other than God did not give them an excuse to lie.

(14) “You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the people all around you, (15) (For the LORD your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth."

Moses warned the people not to walk in the ways of the false gods of the people they would find all around them.  As their Lord had betrothed the children of Israel to Himself as a bride is to her husband, He was zealous and ever vigilant of their faithfulness, and would not tolerate their "whoring" after false gods.  Once again, God is life, and the world with its false gods is death.  Additionally, one cannot serve two different masters (Matthew 6:24).  Once one starts dabbling in the ways of false gods, he has denied that his God is the one and only God of the universe.  If the people chose the ways of death, they would necessarily be destroyed from the face of the earth.

(16) “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah."

In Exodus 17:7 the people were said to have tempted (or tested) the Lord by asking if He was with them or not.  The place was called Massah, which meant "temptation".

(17) “You shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, His testimonies, and His statutes which He has commanded you."

Moses exhorted the people to diligently keep all the commandments, statutes, and judgments of the Lord, not only the Ten Commandments, but the other commands that were to follow.

(18) “And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the LORD, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the LORD swore to your fathers, (19) To cast out all your enemies from before you, as the LORD has spoken."

Moses told the people they were to do what was right and good in the sight of the Lord, meaning what the Lord Himself told them to do.  If they obeyed Him, it would go well for them and they would be able to go in and possess the land the Lord had sworn to their patriarchs.  Following the Lord's commands, their enemies would be cast out from before them.

(20) “And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD our God has commanded you?’ (21) Then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's bondmen in Egypt, and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.'"

When in time their children asked them what the meaning of the testimonies, statutes, and judgments were, or perhaps more precisely why they did the things they did, the people would describe to them how they had been in cruel bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt, and that it was their Lord who brought them out with His mighty power.

(22) "'And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and severe, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes. (23) And He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He swore to our fathers.'"

They would tell their children about all the terrible plagues the Lord had brought upon Egypt and on Pharaoh and his household that they had witnessed, in order to bring them out of bondage to bring them to the land they now possessed which He had long before sworn to their patriarchs.

(24) "‘And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.'"

After bringing them to their promised land, they would explain to their children that the Lord gave the people these statutes to revere and respect their Lord, and that they were designed by Him for their ultimate good that they might live.

(25) "'And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as He has commanded us.'"

It would be reckoned as righteousness, they would tell their children, if the people observed and performed the commandments of the Lord as He had commanded them.  No one mortal man can really be totally righteous in the eyes of the Lord, but He would count it as righteousness if they observed His commandments.

I found these words of the Biblical scholar Adam Clarke very interesting and profound, especially considering he lived from 1762 to 1832.  Even way back then, people had these notions!

A most injurious and destructive maxim has lately been advanced by a few individuals, which it is to be hoped is disowned by the class of Christians to which they belong, though the authors affect to be thought Christians, and rational ones, too; the sum of the maxim is this: “Children ought not to be taught religion for fear of having their minds biased to some particular creed, but they should be left to themselves till they are capable of making a choice, and choose to make one.” This maxim is in flat opposition to the command of God, and those who teach it show how little they are affected by the religion they profess. If they felt it to be good for any thing, they would certainly wish their children to possess it; but they do not teach religion to their children, because they feel it to be of no use to themselves. Now the Christian religion properly applied saves the soul, and fills the heart with love to God and man; for the love of God is shed abroad in the heart of a genuine believer, by the Holy Ghost given to him. These persons have no such love, because they have not the religion that inspires it; and the spurious religion which admits of the maxim above mentioned, is not the religion of God, and consequently better untaught than taught. But what can be said to those parents who, possessing a better faith, equally neglect the instruction of their children in the things of God! They are highly criminal; and if their children perish through neglect, which is very probable, what a dreadful account must they give in the great day! Parents! hear what the Lord saith unto you: Ye shall diligently teach your children that there is one Lord, Jehovah, Elohim; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: and that they must love him with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their might. And as children are heedless, apt to forget, liable to be carried away by sensible things, repeat and re-repeat the instruction, and add line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, carefully studying time, place, and circumstances, that your labor be not in vain: show it in its amiableness, excite attention by exciting interest; show how good, how useful, how blessed, how ennobling, how glorious it is. Whet these things on their hearts till the keenest edge is raised on the strongest desire, till they can say, “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth I desire besides thee!”